An Extension Of Life
by 0Verdigris0
Summary: Death is sometimes feared, but only by those who have yet to experience it. Fiyeraba. Rated 'T' to play it safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Credit to everybody involved with Wicked! I own nothing!**

**The second italicized segment is taken DIRECTLY from the book. Gregory Maguire gets full credit for that.**

**Read and Review! Reviews are LOVED.**

**KUDOS to Tiana (when I figure out her fanfic name I'll let you guys know ;) ) for being my awesome beta and helping with parallel structure and stuffs like that! :)**

**Book-verse**

**NOTE: To everybody reading my other story, 'Don't Leave Me', it is paused while I undergo some major writers block. I'll be writing this one for a bit until I can overcome it :)**

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_The young woman's eyes snapped open, blinking rapidly to try and adjust to the darkness that surrounded her as she felt, somewhat panicked, for the form of her lover. Perhaps it had been a bad dream, for she had been asleep, but for whatever reason, she was feeling around the bed for him._

_His arms closed around her slender frame from behind, his face in the place where neck meets shoulder. He wordlessly held her, and she turned around in his arms, kissing his lips softly, then merely holding him in her own arms as though reassured._

_It was a strong love, a true love. They were meant for each other, meant to be. Theirs was a deep love that would not die._

x

_The witch shrieked, in panic, in disbelief. That even now the would should twist so, offending her once again: Elphaba, who had endured Sarima's refusal to forgive, now begged by a gibbering child for the same mercy always denied her? How could you give such a thing out of your own hollowness?_

_She was caught, twisting, trying, full of will, but toward what? A fragment of the brush of the broom fluttered off, and lit on her skirt, and there was a run of flames in her lap, eating up the dryest tinder in the Vinkus. "Oh will this nightmare never _end_," screamed Dorothy, and she grabbed at a bucket for collecting rainwater that, in the sudden flare-up of light, had come into view. She said, "I will save you!" and she hurled the water at the Witch._

_An instant of sharp pain before the numbness._

x

The numbness lasted for Oz knows how long. It could have been hours, years seconds… any amount of time. Elphaba could still think in her deathly state, and found it odd she could do so. But there was no afterlife, and Elphaba knew that, so she accepted the numb state as what she would experience forever.

It was a surprise when she opened her eyes.

Elphaba hadn't tried, they had just… opened. On their own. Nothing was in focus, however, and Elphaba had to reach up and touch her eyes to make sure that they were indeed open. There was only a whiteness, no shapes, for the time being.

All of a sudden, after Elphaba had momentarily lain where she had woken up, it was as though a switch was flipped, and everything jolted into focus.

Elphaba was in a field of grass, and as she stood up to look around, she noticed that it seemed to go on for miles. A small smile played at the emerald woman's lips as she remembered thinking to herself, many years ago, that drowning in the grass would be a perfect way to die.

Getting to her feet slowly, Elphaba frowned, turning in a complete circle as she looked around for any sign of life.

Placing verdigris hands on her hips, Elphaba began to think. She had just been doused in collected rainwater thrown by a female child, and yet she was moving about and breathing in. Her heart was certainly beating (and as she thought this a hand came up to double-check. Hell, she was even dry. Elphaba couldn't have lived through that - not with her severe allergy to water.

But at the same time, there was no afterlife. At least not for Elphaba, who sure as hell didn't have a soul. Didn't one need to possess a soul in order to stand a chance at being given an afterlife? Of course.

But before Elphaba could figure this strange occurrence out, she suddenly became aware of a presence behind her. Whoever, whatever, it was had just shifted and given themselves away.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Vacation time :) From the 2nd through the 9th, I'll be completely gone, so absolutely nothing will get updated. I'll print out latest chapters of DLM and this story and shall be updating when I'm bored, which will hopefully be often. **

**Thanks again to Tiana, whose fanfic I still don't know! :) You're an awesome beta! **

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Elphaba instantly whirled around, her many years of self-defense practice quickly kicking in. The man received a hard punch to the stomach, causing him to double over, quickly followed by a strong kick in-between his legs, which forced him to his knees.

After a few seconds had passed with neither person moving, Elphaba's adrenaline began to wear off. The man wasn't fighting back, so she could assume she was at least somewhat safe. But a slight case of déjà vu was settling in as well. The man's hair, his posture, his body type… nothing else was visible due to the position he was in. But what she could see was all too familiar.

Placing her hands on her hips, fully prepared for anything the man might do, while remaining in a somewhat relaxed position, Elphaba kept her voice in check. "Get up."

"I don't know if I want to. Will you spay me if I do?" A smile could be heard in the man's voice. But he did get up, slowly.

From the time that he had spoken, an emerald hand had flown up to cover her mouth as more and more of the man was made visible.

It couldn't be. She would wait until she saw his face.

Once he was facing her, Elphaba gasped. It was several moments before she could catch her breath, but once she did, she went straight to the point, no false pretenses. "…Fiyero." Her voice sounded uncertain. "…Is that you?"

She shouldn't have had any doubt. It _was_ him. He didn't have to confirm anything. And he didn't, just smiled that smile that Elphaba had so loved… and missed.

Elphaba moved forward, needing to touch, needing to _feel_ the man she loved with all of her being. He opened his arms just in time, for immediately after, Elphaba was pressed against his chest, hugging him tightly. Whatever had happened hadn't changed her inability to cry, if she had been able to, the woman would have been sobbing with pleasure.

Then suddenly, they were falling towards the ground, Elphaba on top of Fiyero. It was quick, and after the small 'thud' of impact, she found herself lying on top of him.

"Yero, are you alright?" Her voice was full of concern, and she didn't move, for fear of hurting him.

But Fiyero was laughing, "I like this better, actually. You're stronger than I remembered, Fae. I'm fine. I wasn't prepared."

Elphaba patted his chest gently for a moment, then moved her hands in small circles along the surface. She kept her eyes on the contrast her hands made on his soft shirt, the same shirt he had worn the last time she had seen him alive, she realized with a jolt. She spoke softly. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Fiyero shook his head slowly, his hand coming up to rest on the back of Elphaba's head. He gently pulled her closer to him, pressing his lips softly to her own. Pulling away for a moment, he smiled slightly up at her. "I'll always come back for you, Fae," and then he returned his lips to hers, in a classic and timeless display of love.

Their kiss lasted for several moments. Eventually they both had to breathe, instead of returning to the kiss, Elphaba paused, and then gently half-rolled off of Fiyero and onto the grass beside him. Propping herself up on her side, and being half amazed that she could do so because of what had just happened, Elphaba bit her lip, solemnly focusing on Fiyero.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Fiyero reached up, cupping Elphaba's face in one hand. "No… no. Fae, it'd take a lot more than that to keep me down. I scared you, it was self defense. I'm fine now. Let's pretend it didn't happen, alright?"

Elphaba nodded slowly, merely accepting what Fiyero had said. Normally she'd have argued her point, but she was too happy to be with Fiyero again, and the arguments flew out of her head. Not all, but most.

The green woman leaned down once again, placing a soft and gentle kiss on Fiyero's lips. Pulling back away, she kept a hand on his upper arm, letting go when he sat up, and also shifting so that she was sitting, as well.

Hand met hand, emerald on brown, and they looked into each other's eyes, Fiyero's filled with love, Elphaba's, confusion.

"I need to ask you some questions, Fiyero. Please. I should be dea-"

Fiyero brought her hand up and kissed the top of it, causing her to stop mid-sentence. "I know you do. I'm here to answer every question. And I'm never leaving you again. We have all the time in the world, don't feel rushed." He returned his eyes to Elphaba's own, wordlessly asking her to start asking questions. She was bound to be confused, and he wanted to clear everything up for her


	3. Chapter 3

**The fixed that glitch where it duplicates the first line! I'm happy now.**

**Sorry this took so long, I had writers block on THIS one, too. Which wasn't fun.**

**Once again, thank you Tiana. :)**

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They spent several moments in silence, Elphaba keeping her eyes on her hands while thinking of a way to phrase her question, and Fiyero merely waiting. It was confusing, the situation that Elphaba had been pushed into, and like always, she needed a moment to collect her thoughts.

After a few moments, she looked up, a small smile appearing on her face as she saw Fiyero. "I don't really know how to ask this…"

Fiyero nodded, squeezing Elphaba's hand in reassurance. "It's alright, Fae. Ask away, and I'll do my best to answer."

Elphaba nodded, took a deep breath, and spoke. "Am I dead?"

There were several moments of silence before Fiyero spoke, and when he did, his answer was as simple as Elphaba's question had been. "Yes."

Elphaba immediately let go of Fiyero's hand as though it was on fire, looking at it in concealed awe. Moving slightly away from Fiyero, Elphaba wrapped her arms around herself before asking another question. "And you? Are you dead?"

This answer came quicker. "Yes."

"Elaborate, please."

"Do you want the full story, Fae?"

"Yes, please."

Fiyero nodded, immediately launching into an explanation. "First, I should tell you that I followed you that Lurlinemas Eve. Then I went back to the warehouse and waited for you, and the Gale--"

Elphaba quickly held a finger to Fiyero's mouth, shaking her head. "I know. I lost you that night, because of the Gale Force. Don't make me relive that. Please."

Fiyero gently reached up, taking Elphaba's hand in his own once again, and nodded. An apology wasn't needed, so he would just continue with the explanation. "After that, I woke up in my bedroom from when I was a boy, back in the Vinkus. Except, nobody was around. Not my brother, not either of my parents, not any of the servants at Dramco Manor. I was wandering around for a long while, until I met my father. The funny thing is, he died when I was around seventeen. He explained this all to me.

"We are dead, it's true. This is the afterlife, Fae." Fiyero shook his head to silence Elphaba before she objected. "You do have a soul, and that's what's with me right now. But since you lived on for so much longer than I, and we are truly 'soulmates,' I was gifted with being able to watch you back in Oz. Even though I knew that your death would bring us together, I still dreaded it, because I knew it would involve water, and I know how painful that is for you.."

Elphaba had been silent, her other hand finding Fiyero's sometime during the explanation. She was looking down again, and had let her long raven-black hair fall forward to hide her face.

Fiyero watched her for a moment, before continuing somewhat uneasily. "Now that you're in the afterlife, you'll find that water and age do not affect you any more. Sickness doesn't, either, but I have yet to find out if breaking a bone is possible."

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero, turning her face to his, and it was then that he noticed that tears, real tears, were flowing down the green woman's face. There was a small smile on her face, however, which only confused Fiyero further.

"Fae… What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Elphaba nodded and moved towards Fiyero again. She wrapped her arms around his chest, and rested the side of her face against him. "I'm fine.. I'm just so happy to see you again, Fiyero. I thought I would be separated from you forever, and that thought made me--"

But this time it was Fiyero who cut Elphaba off. He gently cupped her chin and pulled away, only slightly, so as to be able to move. Bending down, he met her lips with his own in a kiss that was quickly returned.

Since they had all the time in the world, neither of them felt the need to end the kiss. The kiss slowly grew in strength, until it was something else altogether.

And it was as though Fiyero had never left. Another evening in the warehouse, all that time ago.


End file.
